Currently

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett

Pages Read this Week: 150

Pages Read this Semester: 785

Sentences of the Week:

1. "They got to live before they can afford to die. " The Grapes of Wrath

2. "And this you can know - fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe." The Grapes of Wrath

3. "Books make my head feel like it's filled with jelly." The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

My sentences this week are pretty different.  The first is interesting because, in The Grapes of Wrath, the characters suffer as they try to survive the dust bowl.  Many of the family members die as the journey progresses, but what must be remembered is that living is just as important as the tragedy of dying.  Through all the pain, the characters maintain their sense of humor and their love for each other, demonstrating that they truly live, despite the proximity of death.  Personally, I need to remember to live life to the fullest since I have the habit of forgetting the simple joys, instead focusing on all the stress.  The second sentence is also one I thought was profound.  I guess in a way the statement is true - humans are different for all other creatures because we are willing to fight for an intangible idea.  As soon as people quit standing up for what they believe, they no longer posses the one quality that makes them human.  Finally, the last sentence was a little bit like how I felt when I read The Grapes of Wrath.  While it had some meaningful sentences, as a whole the book was too detailed and long for my tastes.  I'm looking forward to more sentences, however, as I start Crime and Punishment and  The Things They Carried, and finish The Magicians and Mrs. Quent.

Puzzle Pieces

Finally, things are beginning to make sense.  The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is still too difficult to describe in detail, but I can give another Spark Notes version.  In the most recent section I have read, the plot has deviated from the works of Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen.  Magic has become more important as Ivy attempts to solve the mystery behind her fathers madness.  Through riddles and puzzles he left her, she has discovered that she needs to go to her former, magic home and, with the help of a magician, cast a spell to somehow stop these scary bad-guys from taking over the world.  I WISH that had been in Jane Eyre instead of all that crap about St. John.  Basically, she requests the help of Mr. Rafferdy, who has become a close friend, despite her marriage to Mr. Quent.  Mr. Rafferdy, ignoring his hatred of the arcane for her sake, has been learning about magic from Mr. Bennick and is planning to help reinforce this mysterious spell that is stopping the bad-guys from wreaking havoc.  However, a sudden plot twist happened at the end of my section!  Ivy got a letter from Mr. Quent telling her not to trust Mr. Bennick -  apparently he was the one who originally attempted to break the spell.  When her father stopped him, the effort it took caused him to lose his mind.  Dum dum DUUUUUUUUUUM.  I don't know what will happen next, but my book is getting close to the end and I am wondering how all these plots will be wrapped up by then.  Mr. Garrit is still having adventures trying to escape the highwayman/scary-magic-guy who is creeping on his sister.  There is still some strange ghost/witch lady in the woods.  Mr. Garrit, Mr. Rafferdy, and Ivy still have hidden talents that they do not totally understand.  Overall, there are enough loose ends that I am wondering if there is going to be a sequel.  If so, I'm going to have to take a break before I start - this is a good book, but I can only take so many fantasy/classic/mystery/ period novels in one semester!

Self Discovery

This book is very complicated.  There are so many plot lines that its impossible to explain, but I can begin to sum up the most basic points.  As of where I am, Ivy is back home with her family, Mr. Quent is on some mission to stop these things called "risings" (trees come to life and strangling people.. yeah, weird), Ivy's dad is in a loony bin, Rafferdy is all sullen because his engagement ended and he still has feelings for Ivy, and Mr. Garrit is working as a clerk to support him and his sister.  As far as I can tell, a major theme in this section of the book is self discovery.  Ivy has discovered she has this ancient, magical ability that has something to do with trees, Rafferdy, with the help of a strange man he can't stand, is able to do simple magic tricks, despite his disgust, and Garrit has this weird ability to work with illusions, hiding himself in shadows.  There's too much to explain concerning actual plot, so instead I have decided to make connections that follow this thought of self discovery.  Yippee.  When I think of self discover a few things come to mind - band, college, and an essay I have due Monday.  Band always seems to relate to self discovery because I have seen it shape myself and the people around me.  The hours of commitment make people dedicated and disciplined.  Today, for example, we had practice for three hours in the pouring rain.  Our field is now nothing but mud, so you can imagine how fun that is.  Anyone who chooses to be involved in an activity like that must have discovered something about themselves - otherwise, why bother?  College, on the other hand, makes me think of future self discovery.  As I start writing application essays, I realize that I have a lot to learn about myself.  I think that being independent and studying things I want to learn about will help me to, in turn, learn more about myself.  I'm scared for college, but looking forward to this life shaping experience.  Finally, my essay do Monday may be a rather shallow topic to discuss.  Not exactly deep.  The topic, however, if I pull it off, could be profound.  The prompt is to write about a place that has made an impact on your life.  I've chosen a tree in my backyard that I often climb to do homework, think, and cry.  Its a pretty epic tree.  The only problem is that I have to find some way to discuss a sudden epiphany I had in said tree.  We will see how that goes.  So there are my connections for today.  Just as my book is focusing on self discovery, I am starting to learn about who I am from band, college applications, and school essays.  Who would've thought that would be the case.

Currently

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett

Pages Read this Week: 150

Pages Read this Semester: 635

Sentences of the MONTH:

1. "I have no idea how people function without near-constant internal chaos." A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

2. "This is like making electricity from dirt; it is almost too good to be believed, that we can make beauty from this stuff." A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

3. "Go back to your seat you omadhaun, you poltroon, you thing from the far dark corner of a bog." Angela's Ashes

4. "No one bothered to wave or call out in greeting as she passed; they had learned long ago there was no point in it when she had a book with her." The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

5. I'm sure people would be far gladder if they simply stopped searching for all the causes of their unhappiness." The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

These are my favorite sentences I've read this semester, in the order they appeared.  The first one is epic because I understand what he's saying.  I'm always busy, so internal chaos is something that I can relate to.  An average night for me includes band, dance, and homework.  That's it.  Yet somehow I still have to stay up until the wee hours of the morning to accomplish everything.  For a quiet girl, I'm a chaotic person.  I found my second sentence profound - the idea that we can take this crazy world and make it beautiful is inspiring.  The third one is simply hilarious.  Best. Insult. Ever.  I really hope to use this in casual conversation someday.  Number four is interesting because I can relate.  I love to read and I often find myself lost in books.  In the period before this class, I started to read then forgot that I was supposed to start on homework.  Oops.  Oh well, I'll finish it.  Finally, the last sentence is awesome.  I worry a ton, so I think it is good advice.  Instead of thinking about why they are unhappy, people need to instead search for ways to make them content.  So there are the creme de la creme of my sentences so far!  I have already found a few more for next week, so I'm looking forward to reading further.

Copyright Infringement?

Scenery of the Book
(Sheep and Walls)

I'm still enjoying my book, but at this point I am wondering if it is even legal to use so many plot elements from classics.  Its been over a year since I've read Jane Eyre, but this is just ridiculous.  Book two of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is the same story!  Sure, its got a few twists - there's magic involved.  But seriously?  I was right!  Jane/Ivy is marrying Rochester/Quent, becoming the new Mrs. Quent.  This is the same basic plot.  The stories are even parallel to the point that there are crazy ladies out to get both heroines.  The governess who falls in love with the master of the house = priceless.  I guess it just goes to show some stories are popular, no matter the generation.  While I do feel like this book may be rather copy-cat-ish, I won't lie and say I'm not enjoying it.  I liked reading Sense and Sensibility and Jane Eyre most of the time, so reading the stories again, only combined with elements like magic, crazy parents, and a revolution, is pretty interesting.  Furthermore, I've finally found a way to connect the story to my own life!  I think this is rather impressive considering the nature of the book.  The way the author describes "Atlantia," a world that seems an awful lot like England, has struck a chord.  After my trip with Mr. Clough this summer, I can picture a lot of the locations in my head.  The moors, the low walls that keep sheep from wandering, and even the stone circles seem familiar since they match the locations I traveled to.  It was a fantastic trip, so it is fun to read a book that describes what I saw so vividly.  Hopefully, as i keep reading, I will find my ways to connect this book to MY life, rather than solely the lives of characters from other works of fiction.

Lost on the Moors, Jane Eyre Style!

Stone Circles







The Plot Thickens

I've reached the end of the first section of my book, and let me just say there was some drama. Ivy and Mr. Rafferdy ended up forming a relationship that could have progressed into marriage, but because of their different social statuses, Rafferdy took the Edward route, letting go of his true love for a woman more befitting of his family.  I hope that, like the characters in Sense and Sensibility, he changes his mind and marries his Elinor, but, as of where I currently in the book, Ivy has reason to give up hope.  Right after receiving the depressing news that Rafferdy was engaged to someone other than herself, Ivy walked in on an even more depressing scene.  Her mother had suddenly died in her absence.  Now, in order to provide for her sisters, Ivy decides to leave to work for an old family friend she never met, Mr. Quent.  At his home, she will be paid to care for his young cousins.  Finally, after over 200 pages, the name "Quent" has been introduced.  Even though the Mrs. has yet to be mentioned, one thought that has crossed my mind is that Ivy may become Mrs. Quent.  Just a theory, but that'd be interesting.  So that's the basic plot right now, but this book has many subplots as well.  Mr. Garrit has disappeared from the last fifty pages - I can only assume hes running around causing a revolution still.  Other plot lines include the character of Mr. Bennick, a mysterious man who many associate with magic.  He is seemingly helping Ivy solve the riddle to rescue her sick father, but at the same time, he sends Mr. Rafferdy an ugly ring which represents an ancient magical family, alluding to the idea that Mr. Rafferdy may process some magical ability.  Overall, its a very strange book.  A very long soap opera.  I'm enjoying it, but it is no work of literary genius, just an interesting read.  I think its an entertaining book, so I'm looking forward to reading more.

My Favorite Class Claims

These are my top five favorite claims that other students in my class made for their projects:

1) In this scene from Nick Cannons film Drumline, the aggressive and alert style, quick, narrow movement, and percussive, thundering rhythm expresses an alive sense of energetic celebration and modest jubilation.
          - Case 1

2)Phantom Regiment's professional execution of the contrast between powerful, fortissimo fast-paced, militaristic style and the more lyrical, graceful, slow ballad underscores the emotional contrast between vengeful violence and sorrowful lost love.
          - A Scrap of Parchment

3) On the album cover of Titus Andronicus's "The Airing of Grievances," the commanding, classic font and layout of the cover, as well as the cluttered and colorful use of space in the photograph convey the band's homely practice environment and admiration for the old-fashioned symbols of history.
          - The New Zealander

4)In this dance routine, the modern, pounding sound of the drums, the intence and piercing facial expressions and the alive, over the top arm movements creates a sense of fragile chemistry between two people that are desperate yet indecisive at the same time.
          - True Story

5)The sweet tasing sensation of a skittle releases a flavor of fruitiness drowing all your taste buds in a pool of heaven. The numerous amount of these miniture, round, chewy candies create a rainbow effect in your mouth when devoured.
          -Peanut Butter without the Jelly



These are my two favorite artifacts that other students chose to do a close reading on

1)  A Photograph of a Ballet Dancer
          - Eddie

2) Phantom Regiment - Sparticus 2008
          - A Scrap of Parchment

My favorite claim is Case 1's statement on the movie Drumline, and my favorite artifact is A Scrap of Parchment's choice of Phantom Regiment's 2008 show.  Obviously, I'm in the marching band.

Close Reading Project

Gene Kelly Tap Dancing on Roller Skates

My project this week is to do a "close reading" of any subject.  Since I love tap dancing, I thought this video of Gene Kelly would be the perfect thing to observe and describe.  I already tap dance, but my new goal in life is to be able roller skate as well!  I'm thinking I would have the best act in the Variety Show with this!

Observe:                                                                             Infer:

Sound: rhythmic, drumming, sharp, resonant                          Joyful

Skating Motion: smooth, graceful, elegant, swift                      Blissful

Tapping Motion: quick, sharp, wild, exciting                            Content

Arm Movement: slapping, waving, swinging,                            Excited

Use of Space: wide, aggressive, turning                                  Enthusiastic

Facial Expression: blissful, content, hopeful                            Playful

Claim:

In this scene from Its Always Fair Weather, Gene Kelly's graceful skating, hopeful facial expression, and sharp, exciting tap dancing create a sense of blissful enthusiasm.

Poet of the Month

For my poet of the month project, I have chosen to look up another poem by an author we have read in class and write about it. I liked Gary Snyder's poem "The Trail is Not a Trail," so I researched and found "Riprap" by Gary Snyder. It’s a strange poem because it refers to itself. I haven't seen much poetry that describes how a person should read it, let alone poems that describe the process by comparing it to rocks. As a whole, the poem doesn't make much sense to me, but maybe I'm just one of the "lost ponies with dragging saddles." Never thought I'd claim that about myself, but it’s a possibility. It’s strange and makes me think, so I like it.  If life is like an “endless four-dimensional game of go,” then I’m glad I paused the game long enough to read this poem.

A Stone Circle I Saw in England with Mr. Clough's English Class
 (This is my interpretation of "rocks placed solid by hands." 
I'm not sure how I'm supposed to read a poem like these, but hey, whatever.)

Currently

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett

Pages Read this Week: 158

Pages Read this Semester: 485

Sentences of the Week:

1. "Go back to your seat you omadhaun, you poltroon, you thing from the far dark corner of a bog." Angela's Ashes

2. "I'm sure people would be far gladder if they simply stopped searching for all the causes of their unhappiness." The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

3. "Though he supposed the good were always drawn to the wicked for wanting to save them, and the wicked in turn to the good - not in hopes of being saved or with desires of corrupting but rather like a moth in the dark, fascinated by a light it can never really know but might at least behold."  The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

My first sentence was just funny.  Not only does it include a vocabulary word we have been studying (poltroon), but it is possibly one of the best insults I have ever heard.  I may have to beginning calling my sister a "thing from the far dark corner of a bog."  I wonder how she would respond.  The second sentence was insightful.  They're words of wisdom, but ironically, they come from a character who is foolish.  In a weird way, it reminded me of Polonius' statement "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."  These are intelligent words spoken by an idiot of a character in Shakespeare's Hamlet.  Sentences like these make me wonder if even the stupidest people can have a little bit of depth to them.  Finally, the third sentence was profound.  I'm not really sure why I liked it, but it sort of reminded me of the musical Wicked.  Other than that, I just thought it was cool.  The moth simile was pretty great.  Good sentences this week!  I'm enjoying finding them and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Magic and Mystery

My book has been getting better!  It's become rather complicated - a series of plots all combined in the first 150 pages.  There are many characters that all have their own adventures, but so far my favorite plot lines are those of Ivy and Mr. Garrit.  Ivy is on a mission to help her father, a magician who for some reason has gone mad.  Strange men in cloaks have been visiting her house, looking for a mysterious magical item, so she is attempting to find the missing object in order to bribe them to help save her father.  Her quest is an exciting mystery that is further explained in about every other chapter. In other chapters, the plot turns to Mr. Garrit and his goal of improving the fortunes of himself and his sister.  He planned to invest in a trading company that was supposed to bring back profits twenty times his original investment, but he did not have enough money to buy the share.  Through a series of strange events, he received the money from a highway man who seems to have a thing for his sister.  However, the money wasn't given freely.  Now, Mr. Garrit is following these strange directions from the criminal - delivering letters that are surely involved in a rebellion against the king.  Being a respectable citizen, Mr. Garrit decides to pay the highwayman back after weeks of doing his dirty work.  He goes to the company he invested in, only to discovered they have swindled him.  Now he is in the service of a criminal and helping in a revolution he doesn't want, all in order to increase his social status, earning a better life for his sister.

Both of my favorite characters share something in common - they each want to help those they love.  Personally, while my family can seriously get on my nerves, I want the best for them.  I worry about my little sister as she grows up and starts high school and hope that she is given all the good fortune she deserves.  Unlike my favorite characters, however, I am blessed to live in a family where I don't need to provide for everyone.  Ivy, in the fashion of Elinor from Sense and Sensibility, is essentially in charge of her family.  Lilly, the Marianne Dashwood of the family, and her mother are hopeless romantics.  With her father sick, Ivy is left to monitor the finances of the once wealthy family, keeping purchases in check and remaining sensible.  Mr. Garrit has a similar situation.  He is the son of a diseased, disgraced nobleman who owes money to every money lender in town.  While Mr. Garrit is an honest man, he is unable to get ahead in life to due to his illegitimate birth and his inability to get a loan because of the sins of his father.  Both characters take the weight of the world on their shoulders to support the people they care about.  I only hope that I will always have the sense to support my family in a similar, if less dramatic, way.

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

My new book is pretty random.  I've never heard of it - its just a book I bought on sale when Mitchel Books went out of business.  Its pretty big and I've been meaning to find time to plow through it, so now seemed like as good a time as any.  So far I like it.  I'm about 100 pages in and I'm not totally sure what its about, but the characters seem realistic and interesting.  In the beginning of the book, there were three separate groups of people, and each chapter is told from their point of view.  The first section concerned three sisters, Ivy, Rose, and Lily.  They are all very different, but Ivy is the main character and the person I can relate to the most.  She loves to read and cares deeply for her family.  Mr. Rafferdy is another character - a proud son of a rich nobleman, who spends most of his time drinking and buying clothes.  The final main character is Mr. Garrit -  the illegitimate son of a disgraced nobleman.  For the first few chapters, the main characters go about their lives, but I just reached the part where they are all together for the first time. I have no idea where this will lead, but from reading reviews, I have learned that the book is supposedly part fantasy, part mystery, and part period novel.  I like all three of these genres, so this should work for me.  Also, I have learned that the book is a bit of a combination of works by Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austin, and Charles Dickens.  Already, I see the similarities.  Having read Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations, I can't help but notice that Ivy seems to be a lot like Jane and Elinor and that the description of the time period seems to match how Dickens describes the worlds of David and Pip.  I will have to brush up on characters from theses books, since I would like to see if the parallels run deeper than just the surface.  So far, it seems like an interesting book and I am looking forward to reading more!

Interview with the Author

Here is link to a video of Dave Eggers being interviewed by Conan O'Brien.  Its a little long, but its funny.  If you like the way this guy thinks, read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius!

Epic Interview of Awesomeness

Currently

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett

Pages Read this Week: 110

Pages Read this Semester: 327

Sentences of the Week:

1. "No one bothered to wave or call out in greeting as she passed; they had learned long ago there was no point in it when she had a book with her." The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

2. "I'm nobody.  Who are you?" Emily Dickinson

3. "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good." Romans 12:9-21

This week's sentences are pretty random.  I'm between books, having just finished A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, so I chose quotes I used for two of my essays this year and a sentence I found while skimming the book I might start.  The first sentence was on the very first page of my new book, The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, and it made me laugh.  Although I don't know who the character is yet, I can relate - I have often been annoyed when people interrupt my reading.  The second sentence is a bit of a joke.  This week for A.P. Composition I had to write a descriptive essay about someone I knew.  I used this line from an Emily Dickinson poem to describe my friend's philosophy.  It was accurate and fun, so I thought I'd include it on my list.  Finally, the last sentence is one I heard in a reading a few weeks ago in church.  I liked it so much that I looked it up, then used it both in an essay for Novels and a quote competition in Comp.  I figure bible = book, so its fair to include it.  Even though they're a little random, I like my batch of sentences this week.



FINISHED!!

There. Finished my book.  Since the beginning of this school year I've read all 437 pages of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, 206 pages of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 252 pages of My Antonia, and 46 pages of Angela's Ashes.  Next on the list is getting through Chapter 4 of Angela's Ashes, The Grapes of Wrath, and whatever I choose to read for this class.  Its a lot of work when combined with band, dance, school, and friends, but I think I'm doing well so far!  Give me a little while and we will see how bogged down I get.

I really loved A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  It was probably the best book I've read since freshman year.  The ending was so strange though!  I'm not really sure what happened, except that there was a lot of cussing involved.  Basically, Eggers seemed to express both his pride in finishing his book and his shame for what he called "cannibalizing," the people in it.  While he felt he was doing something important by writing his story, the friend with the codename John played the devil's advocate in the last few pages.  John was a friend who was prone to drama.  He threatened suicide on multiple occasions and Eggers used him as a type of metaphor for chaos.  Occasionally, John actually speaks out against this portrayal in the book.  He says that Eggers simply tells the sad stories, ignoring the normal, happy people.  In a way, this is true.  Eggers talks about a friends and family who have tragic accidents, die, fake dying, threaten suicide, and essentially live screwed up lives.  Very rarely do the people around him seem normal.  I do not know if this portrayal is true, but I believe that Eggers did his best to write a book that was meaningful, entertaining, and insightful.  It confused me and intrigued me because it was foreign, yet at the same time familiar.  The style was strange, and his life was unlikely, but some of the events hit very close to home.  Overall, I would recommend the book to anyone who is willing to be challenged - both because of the length and the material.  I truly enjoyed reading this heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

Waiting and Worrying

Let me begin by saying I like to worry.  I'm constantly stressing over band or school work, so I am known for going into freak-out mode in order to get something done.  The author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, however, is about ten times worse than I am when it comes to panicking.  He immediately assumes the worst possible scenario in ever situation.  For example, at one point, Eggers is unable to find Toph when he goes to pick him up from a party.  Instead of considering that Toph simply went to the wrong door, Eggers quickly jumps to kidnapping and rape as the most likely scenarios.  Perhaps its because of the tragic events in his life, but Eggers always seems to be worried about his little brother.  The author's worries increase when a friend of his ends up in the hospital after a deck collapses and she falls, smashing her head.  He visits her almost ever day and is convinced that she will never be the same again.  I can relate to this fear in my own life.  Last year, my friends mom suddenly started having seizures.  Nobody knew what was wrong, but once she was rushed to the hospital, they found out that she had a brain tumor.  It was scary because no one knew if she would ever be the same person again.  First, she had to live.  Only then could we hope that she had not lost any of the traits that made her who she was.  Like Eggers' friend, she was in a coma for days while everyone worried.  Luckily, once she came to, she ended up with her same personality.  All of her family and friends were relieved and thankful.  At this point in my book, I feel like I can relate to the author since I have lived through a similar event.  I hope that, as I keep reading, I find out that his friend was able to recover as well as our family friend.

Friday (On Sunday)

My assignment for Friday was to view nine different blogs that belong to my classmates, post comments on three of them, and vote for two for the "bloggies."  The nine I looked at (chosen at random) were:

The Written Word
Banana Smoothie
Hog Smog Blog
JoeChemo
Rocket Guild
T-Rex
TheyCallMeFreshMonkey
Stormy Days
Live, Laugh, Read

I also attempted to comment on three of these, but since I am technologically challenged, I was unsuccessful.  P.S.  This is my second time making this post.  For some reason it didn't work before.  I hate computers.  Anyway, I've decided to vote for TheyCallMeFreshMonkey and The Written Word once I figure out how to post on the class blog.

There, finished my Friday project.  Now I might as well talk about my great labor day weekend.  Friday was HOT and I had band practice, but luckily, the directors knew it was ungodly and probably illegal to work us too hard, so it was actually an easier practice than normal.  We got out early (a miracle), so we celebrated by having a band-kid party at my house.  We cooled off in the pool then watched a movie.  Saturday, I went jet skiing with two of my friends (band-kids) and almost died.  It was fun though.  And despite what they say, I'm NOT a terrible driver.  Then, we had a band-kid bonfire at another friends house.  It rained, so we ended up moving indoors for some Apples to Apples and another movie night, but it was still a good time.  Today is yet another band-kid bonfire (Are you noticing a trend?  You would think we'd be sick of each other.  We spend all week together, and what do we do with our free time?  Spend MORE time together).  Hopefully it won't rain again - one can only take so many comedies per weekend.  Tomorrow, I'm going to my grandparents lake (and bringing a former band-kid), then its time to go back to school once more.  Its my last free weekend before band competitions start up, so I'm glad I'm making the most of it (even if its just by hanging out with the people I will anyway during the season).  Goodbye summer!

Currently

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers

Pages Read this Week: 109

Pages Read this Semester: 217

Sentences of the Week:

1. "We are a circus family, a trapeze family, with perfect timing, great showmanship, tight green outfits." A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

2. "Between that earth and that sky I felt erased, blotted out." My Antonia

3. "I wonder why you'd want to eat your dinner off the floor when you had a table and chair." Angela's Ashes

The sentences this week are from all the books I am reading in my English Classes.  I found the first sentence interesting because it describes how Eggers views his abnormal family.  I never thought to describe my family as acrobats, but I thought it was funny and insightful.  The second sentence is poetic.  Stuck inside school all the time, I miss being outside.  The narrator of My Antonia, Jim, makes nature seem almost like its own character, and I find the power the environment has over him impressive.  Finally, the last sentence is one I thought was entertaining.  One of the adult characters had just made the point that having a floor clean enough to eat off was beneficial.  I thought the kid who said the sentence had a point!  A good group of sentences today!  I can't wait to keep reading.

Siblings and Parents

A major theme of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is how Eggers must raise his brother, Toph, after their parent's death.  Since Eggers is only in his twenties, he finds it difficult to balance acting like both a brother and a parent.  He is thrust into this responsibiilty- attending parent teacher conferences, cooking dinner, and staying home from normal "twenty-something" activities to look after the little brother who he adores.  I look to my own family and realize - I couldn't do it.  I love my parents and can't imagine losing them.  They support me in everything I do and are always there when I need them.  I like to think I'm mature, but I am in no ways capaple of managing my life without them in it.  Then, I try imagine adding the responsibility of looking after my little sister.  My goodness.  My baby sister -  she is a handful.  She is only a few years younger than I, which could explain our somewhat difficult relationship.  I love her dearly and would stand in the way of any jerk who wanted to hurt her, but as for taking responsibility for that girl?  No thanks.  We are just too different to allow any relationship similar to that of the author and his little brother.  I admire Eggers for the work he did to hold his family together because it is far outside my comfort zone.  At the point I am at in the book, Toph seems happy and loved - a miracle considering he lost both parents in a few months.  Right now, I am thankful that I've got a close knit, if somewhat strange, family who will always be there for me.  The small squables I have with them seem unimportant when I look to Egger's family - broken, but still there for eachother.  I hope that, one day, I can show that kind of commitment to my own family.